I visited Cactus Jack's Auto lot in Mesa back in June. My friend saw a Camaro they had on the lot and thought I would be interested in it. I took a ride over there to get more info about financing. After talking with the Sales Manager, he said the Camaro would require a hefty down payment plus high monthly payments. I had a 95 Caddy SLS as a trade. They were only willing to give me $800 for trade (Kelly Blue Book was well over $2000). They tried offering me compact cars and other smaller sports cars. I told them I was not comfortable driving anything other than the Camaro. The Sales Manager insisted I test a Nissan Pathfinder that was on the lot. I reluctantly agreed and took it around the block. It seemed to drive ok, and since my credit wasn't the greatest, I didn't feel like I had a choice.
After 4 months and about 4000 miles, I started to experience transmission problems. I took the truck to AAMCO and also to a local mechanic. I explained the problem and they said I would need a soft rebuild. The local mechanic told me Nissans had issues with the transmission cooling line. He suggested I take it back to Cactus Jack, since you would think they would want to keep a happy customer. After a week of the truck on their lot, Francisco called me and said the price for the rebuild would be approximately $1100. I asked him if there was anyway to work the price into my payments. He said his manager could but would require at least half down. I told him there was no way I could afford that since I still had to make the truck payment plus the insurance. I gave him the keys and cleaned out the truck. I went across the street to another dealership who had a Camaro and were willing to work with me.
After a couple of months, I recieved a call from Chicago Lender's legal department. Since the truck was technically repossed and sold at auction, she stated I still owed the difference. I sent her a letter stating my situation, but she still insisted that I owed the difference for the truck. The truck was auctioned during the time when gas prices were way up, so the value was next to nothing. I again sent her a letter explaining that if Chicago Lenders insisted I pay for a vehicle I no longer owned that at least could we comprimise on the amount owed. I recieved no response.
So if anyone is unlucky to have bought a vehicle from Cactus Jack and you experience problems, I suggest sell it outright. They will sell it at auction for what ever price they get and stick you with the balance.
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